Information Assurance Awareness Training

NIST Special Publication 800-50, is a regulation dedicated to IA Awareness Training

NIST SP 800-5, Building an Information Technology Security Awareness & Training Program


The 800-50 includes guidance on development and sustainment of an awareness & training IT Security (aka information assurance training) program for all users, employees and supervisors within an organization. Having a training program is mandated by the Federal Information Security Act of 2002.

IA Awareness Training – Roles & Responsibilities

Agency heads – must ensure that high priority is given to effective security awareness and training for employees. Appoint a CIO
CIO – Establish overall strategy, funding, tracking and report is in place for the IT security awareness and training program
IT Security Program Manager – tactical deployment, development and maintenance of the IT security & awareness program.
Managers – responsible for complying with IT security awareness program. Work with CIO and IT Security Program Managers to share responsibility. Ensure all users are trained to fulfill their security roles before access is giving. Promote professional development and certification of the IT staff.
Users – largest audience in any organization and are the single most important group of people who can help to reduce unintentional errors.


800-50 calls learning a “continuum”. The continuum of learning starts awareness and builds into education.
Awareness – awareness is not training. Awareness focuses on security concerns to ensure users are mindful of basic rules and issues in a given environment.


Awareness is not training. The purpose of awareness presentations is simply to focus attention on security. Awareness presentations are intended to allow individuals to recognize IT security concerns and respond accordingly. – 800-50

Training – is a formal focused method to develop a skill for job performance.
Training strives to produce relevant and needed security skills and competencies – 800-50

Education – combines multidisciplinary areas into a common body of knowledge.

Education integrates all of the security skills and competencies of the various functional specialties into a common body of knowledge . . . and strives to produce IT security specialists and professionals capable of vision and pro-active response. –800-50